Publisher Description

The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Ritual and Religion provides a comprehensive overview by period and region of the relevant archaeological material in relation to theory, methodology, definition, and practice. Although, as the title indicates, the focus is upon archaeological investigations of ritual and religion, by necessity ideas and evidence from other disciplines are also included, among them anthropology, ethnography, religious studies, andhistory. The Handbook covers a global span-Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, and the Americas-and reaches from the earliest prehistory (the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic) to modern times. In addition, chaptersfocus upon relevant themes, ranging from landscape to death, from taboo to water, from gender to rites of passage, from ritual to fasting and feasting. Written by over sixty specialists, renowned in their respective fields, the Handbook presents the very best in current scholarship, and will serve both as a comprehensive introduction to its subject and as a stimulus to further research.

Author Biography

Timothy Insoll is Al-Qasimi Professor of African and Islamic Archaeology in the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter. Educated at the Universities of Sheffield and Cambridge, he was a Research Fellow at St John's College, Cambridge from 1995 until 1998, when he was appointed Lecturer at the University of Manchester. After becoming a Reader in 2004 and being awarded a personal chair in 2005 he moved to the University of Exeter in 2016.He is the author or editor of 16 books, three special journal issues, and numerous articles and reviews on a wide range of research topics across the discipline of archaeology, and has completedfieldwork in Mali, Ghana, western India, Bahrain, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Uganda.

Table of Contents

Timothy Insoll: Introduction: Ritual and Religion in Archaeological PerspectiveI. Elements and Expression1: Chris Scarre: Monumentality2: Randi Haaland & Gunnar Haaland: Landscape3: Terje Oestigard: Water4: Anders Kaliff: Fire5: Amy Gazin-Schwartz: Myth and Folklore6: Terje Oestigard: Cosmogony7: Tim Taylor: Death8: Nicky Milner: Taboo9: Marc Verhoeven: The Many Dimensions of Ritual10: Chris Fowler: Personhood and the Body11: Timothy Insoll: Sacrifice12: Randall McGuire & Reinhard Bernbeck: Ideology13: Michael Dietler: Feasting and Fasting14: Sarah Milledge Nelson: Gender and Religion in Archaeology15: Yannis Hamilakis: Archaeologies of the Senses16: Timothy Clack: Syncretism and Religious Fusion17: Olivier P. Gosselain: Technology18: Paul Garwood: Rites of Passage19: Zoe Crossland: The Archaeology of Contemporary Conflict20: David S. Whitley: Rock Art, Religion and RitualII. Prehistoric European Ritual and Religion21: Paul Pettitt: Religion and Ritual in the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic22: Paul Bahn: Religion and Ritual in the Upper Palaeolithic23: Chantal Conneller: The Mesolithic24: Julian Thomas: Ritual and Religion in the Neolithic25: Joanna Bruck: Fire, Earth, Water: An Elemental Cosmography of the European Bronze Age26: Jody Joy: The Iron AgeIII. Religion and Ritual in World Prehistory27: Timothy Insoll: Sub-Saharan Africa28: Lukas Nickel: The Prehistory of Religion in China29: Simon Kaner: The Archaeology of Religion and Ritual in the Prehistoric Japanese Archipelago30: Charles Higham: Ritual and Religion in Southeast Asia31: Bruno David: Historicising Cosmologies in Australia and Papua New Guinea (Historicising Cosmologies in Australia and Papua New Guinea32: Paul Rainbird: Pacific and New Zealand33: Peter Roe: Walking Upside-Down and Backwards: Art and Religion in the Ancient Caribbean34: Rosemary Joyce: Recognizing Religion in Mesoamerican Archaeology: Maya35: Michael E. Smith: Aztecs36: Kevin Lane: Inca37: Jeffrey Quilter: Moche Religion38: Kelley Hays-Gilpin: North America: Pueblos39: James Vernon Knight: North America: Eastern Woodlands40: Roy L. Carlson: The North American Northwest Coast Religious System: Coastal Northwest41: Brian Robinson: Ritual and Archaeological Visibility in the Far Northeast of North AmericaIV. Religion and Cult of the Old World42: Colin Renfrew: Prehistoric Religions in the Aegean43: Julia Kindt: Ancient Greece44: Tom Rasmussen: Etruscan Ritual and Religion45: Anna Stevens: Egypt46: Richard Hingley: Rome: Imperial and Local Religions47: Caroline Malone & Simon Stoddart: Maltese Prehistoric Religion48: Michael J. Seymour: Mesopotamia49: Marc Verhoeven: Retrieving the Supernatural: Ritual and Religion in the Prehistoric Levant50: Daniel Potts: Iran51: Karina Croucher: Anatolia52: Anders Andren: Old Norse and Germanic Religion53: Martin Welch: Pre-Christian Practices in the Anglo-Saxon World54: Tonno Jonuks: The Archaeology of Baltic ReligionsV. Archaeology of World Religions55: Aaron A. Burke: The Archaeology of Ritual and Religion in Ancient Israel and the Levant, and the Origins of Judaism56: James F. Strange: The Archaeology of Judaism from the Persian Period to the Sixth Century AD57: Namita Sugandhi & Kathleen Morrison: Archaeology of Hinduism58: Robin Coningham: Buddhism59: Sam Turner: Christianity60: Andrew Petersen: IslamVI. Archaeology of Indigenous and New Religions61: Neil Price: Shamanism62: Timothy Insoll: Animism and Totemism63: Jenny Blain: Neo-Shamanism: Pagan and 'Neo-Shamanic' Interactions with Archaeology64: Aleks Pluskowski: Druidism and Neo-Paganism65: Timothy Insoll: Ancestor Cults66: Pierre de Maret: Divine Kings

Review

This [Handbook] gives many riches, and is both extremely thought provoking and timely. It will be used and enjoyed by readers at many different levels. * Alasdair Whittle, European Journal of Archaeology *
The volume is exceptionally well organized. * Stephen D. Glazier, Religion *

Long Description

The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Ritual and Religion provides a comprehensive overview by period and region of the relevant archaeological material in relation to theory, methodology, definition, and practice. Although, as the title indicates, the focus is upon archaeological investigations of ritual and religion, by necessity ideas and evidence from other disciplines are also included, among them anthropology, ethnography, religious studies, andhistory. The Handbook covers a global span-Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, and the Americas-and reaches from the earliest prehistory (the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic) to modern times. In addition, chaptersfocus upon relevant themes, ranging from landscape to death, from taboo to water, from gender to rites of passage, from ritual to fasting and feasting. Written by over sixty specialists, renowned in their respective fields, the Handbook presents the very best in current scholarship, and will serve both as a comprehensive introduction to its subject and as a stimulus to further research.

Review Quote

This [Handbook] gives many riches, and is both extremely thought provoking and timely. It will be used and enjoyed by readers at many different levels.

Feature

Written by an international team of leading expertsStructure allows quick reference to the archaeology relating to specific periods, themes, or regionsIncorporates research results that are often literally fresh from the groundGlobal in coverage, enabling comparison of information from all regions of the worldEach chapter is supported by a comprehensive bibliography, facilitating and encouraging further exploration

New Feature

Introduction: Ritual and Religion in Archaeological Perspective, Timothy Insoll I. Elements and Expression 1. Monumentality, Chris Scarre 2. Landscape, Randi Haaland & Gunnar Haaland 3. Water, Terje Oestigard 4. Fire, Anders Kaliff 5. Myth and Folklore, Amy Gazin-Schwartz 6. Cosmogony, Terje Oestigard 7. Death, Tim Taylor 8. Taboo, Nicky Milner 9. The Many Dimensions of Ritual, Marc Verhoeven 10. Personhood and the Body, Chris Fowler 11. Sacrifice, Timothy Insoll 12. Ideology, Randall McGuire & Reinhard Bernbeck 13. Feasting and Fasting, Michael Dietler 14. Gender and Religion in Archaeology, Sarah Milledge Nelson 15. Archaeologies of the Senses, Yannis Hamilakis 16. Syncretism and Religious Fusion, Timothy Clack 17. Technology, Olivier P. Gosselain 18. Rites of Passage, Paul Garwood 19. The Archaeology of Contemporary Conflict, Zoe Crossland 20. Rock Art, Religion and Ritual, David S. Whitley II. Prehistoric European Ritual and Religion 21. Religion and Ritual in the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic, Paul Pettitt 22. Religion and Ritual in the Upper Palaeolithic, Paul Bahn 23. The Mesolithic, Chantal Conneller 24. Ritual and Religion in the Neolithic, Julian Thomas 25. Fire, Earth, Water: An Elemental Cosmography of the European Bronze Age, Joanna Bruck 26. The Iron Age, Jody Joy III. Religion and Ritual in World Prehistory 27. Sub-Saharan Africa, Timothy Insoll 28. The Prehistory of Religion in China, Lukas Nickel 29. The Archaeology of Religion and Ritual in the Prehistoric Japanese Archipelago, Simon Kaner 30. Ritual and Religion in Southeast Asia, Charles Higham 31. Historicising Cosmologies in Australia and Papua New Guinea (Historicising Cosmologies in Australia and Papua New Guinea, Bruno David 32. Pacific and New Zealand, Paul Rainbird 33. Walking Upside-Down and Backwards: Art and Religion in the Ancient Caribbean, Peter Roe 34. Recognizing Religion in Mesoamerican Archaeology: Maya, Rosemary Joyce 35. Aztecs, Michael E. Smith 36. Inca, Kevin Lane 37. Moche Religion, Jeffrey Quilter 38. North America: Pueblos, Kelley Hays-Gilpin 39. North America: Eastern Woodlands, James Vernon Knight 40. The North American Northwest Coast Religious System: Coastal Northwest, Roy L. Carlson 41. Ritual and Archaeological Visibility in the Far Northeast of North America, Brian Robinson IV. Religion and Cult of the Old World 42. Prehistoric Religions in the Aegean, Colin Renfrew 43. Ancient Greece, Julia Kindt 44. Etruscan Ritual and Religion, Tom Rasmussen 45. Egypt, Anna Stevens 46. Rome: Imperial and Local Religions, Richard Hingley 47. Maltese Prehistoric Religion, Caroline Malone & Simon Stoddart 48. Mesopotamia, Michael J. Seymour 49. Retrieving the Supernatural: Ritual and Religion in the Prehistoric Levant, Marc Verhoeven 50. Iran, Daniel Potts 51. Anatolia, Karina Croucher 52. Old Norse and Germanic Religion, Anders Andren 53. Pre-Christian Practices in the Anglo-Saxon World, Martin Welch 54. The Archaeology of Baltic Religions, Tonno Jonuks V. Archaeology of World Religions 55. The Archaeology of Ritual and Religion in Ancient Israel and the Levant, and the Origins of Judaism, Aaron A. Burke 56. The Archaeology of Judaism from the Persian Period to the Sixth Century AD, James F. Strange 57. Archaeology of Hinduism, Namita Sugandhi & Kathleen Morrison 58. Buddhism, Robin Coningham 59. Christianity, Sam Turner 60. Islam, Andrew Petersen VI. Archaeology of Indigenous and New Religions 61. Shamanism, Neil Price 62. Animism and Totemism, Timothy Insoll 63. Neo-Shamanism: Pagan and ''Neo-Shamanic'' Interactions with Archaeology, Jenny Blain 64. Druidism and Neo-Paganism, Aleks Pluskowski 65. Ancestor Cults, Timothy Insoll 66. Divine Kings, Pierre de Maret

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